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go to one of the worlds largest shopping malls!
The Santa MariaWest Edmonton Mall is located in a suburban part of the city, covers a gross area of 500,000 m² (5.4 million ft²) and cost C$1.2 billion to build. There are over 600 stores, restaurants and services located on two floors. There are also several major tourist attractions (see below), and parking for more than 20,000 vehicles in the world's largest parking lot. More than 23,000 people are employed at the property. The mall receives 22 million visits per year, and sometimes refers to itself as "the eighth wonder of the world".
The mall includes major department stores and junior department stores. Sears is located in the northeast corner, The Bay in the east, and Zellers in the southeast. Junior department stores include The Brick, London Drugs, Sportchek, Chapters Books, and Winners. Since 2003, the mall has attracted an increasing number of global retailers including American Eagle Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch, French Connection UK, Hollister Co., Old Navy, Tommy Hilfiger, Swarovski, and Zara.
Galaxyland is an indoor amusement park located on the north side of the mall. There are more than 20 rides and attractions including the triple loop Mindbender roller coaster.
The World Waterpark is North America's largest indoor waterpark with a size of over 20,000 m2 (5 acres). The park is known for its high-speed waterslide called the Sky Screamer, which is often mistaken as the park's tallest slide at 78 ft (23.8 m). The highest slide in the park is the Twister, which is 83 ft (25.3 m) high.
It recently closed in late January for renovations, but has since reopened in late February. The renovations brought new signage, a complete resurfacing of the wave pool, and change room upgrades. Also, outside food or beverage is no longer allowed.
it has Blue Thunder Wave Pool - 1500 HP Hydraulic/Mech Wave Generators
The Deep Sea Adventure is an indoor lake which contains a salt-water habitat with performing sea lions and a replica of Christopher Columbus' Santa MarĂa, built during the 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver. The Santa MarĂa has been used for an annual fundraiser for Christmas, raising toys for underprivileged children. Also, the submarines, a long time favorite, have been replaced with the Deep-Sea Derby, a bumper boat ride with squirt guns.
Professor WEM's Adventure Golf, an 18-hole miniature golf course, and the Ice Palace, an NHL-size skating rink, are some of the mall's other attractions (see below). Although the dolphins and other sea life animals were a big attraction, they have been since removed from the Mall.
West Edmonton Mall first opened its doors to the public on September 15, 1981. The mall has been expanded three times since its opening in 1981, with these additions completed in 1983 (Phase II), 1985 (Phase III) and 1999 (Phase IV).
The mall's amusement park was originally called Fantasyland, until the Walt Disney Company took the mall to court, claiming ownership of the name, which is used in its theme parks such as Disneyland. WEM lost and was forced to rename the attraction Galaxyland. However, the mall was allowed to retain the name Fantasyland Hotel for its on-site hotel.
In the early 1990s, the Woodward's department store chain, one of WEM's anchors, went bankrupt, and its locations were purchased by the Hudson's Bay Company. As a result, WEM boasted two full Bay department stores until the late 1990s when one of the locations was closed, leading to a renovation that added a Famous Players multiplex, a two-floor HMV location, a 12.5 million dollar Playdium entertainment complex (now closed) as well as a Chapters book store.
The closure in the early 1990s of Canadian Tire left a vacancy that sat unfilled for nearly a decade until it was converted into a "Chinatown"-themed area in 2002, which includes an Asian grocery store.
Throughout the 1990s, the actual store and restaurant count gradually declined to around 600, a result of store expansions, renovations and increasing footprints of today's popular chains. Mall advertising, however, still trumpets the "Over 800 Stores" tagline.
Numerous celebrities have been attracted to West Edmonton Mall over the years, either for pleasure or for business. The celebrity-owned Planet Hollywood had a location in WEM for several years, and Arnold Schwarzenegger considered shooting a movie there.
In September 2005, the mall was mentioned in gossip columns around the world when Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt visited while Pitt was filming a movie in various sites throughout Western Canada, including Fort Edmonton Park. At the time rumours were correct regarding the two actors' relationship, and two WEM employees subsequently became causes célèbres when they managed to photograph the two together...
Future developments
Permission from the City of Edmonton was recently granted for an expansion. This will include additional retail space, a facility for sports, trade shows and conventions, a 12-story office building, and a 600-unit apartment building, along with more parking.
other attractions include:
Two movie theatres, SilverCity Famous Players (with Fire Breathing Dragon), Cineplex Odeon
Fantasyland Hotel
A large flock of pink flamingos
Jubilations Dinner Theatre
Palace Casino
An indoor shooting range
Large-scale replica of the Santa MarĂa, one of the ships sailed by Christopher Columbus.
Petting Zoo
Sea Life Caverns
Red's (Bowling, Pool, Diner, Arcade, Music Venue)
Dance clubs (Fever, The Rum)
KidTropolis
West 49 skateshop with indoor skatepark, built in a converted cinema.
Circuit Circus arcade
3 Radio Stations, owned by Newcap
The mall also includes several "theme areas" including:
Bourbon Street — featuring clubs and restaurants in a New Orleans-influenced setting.
Europa Boulevard — eclectic shops in an area designed to look like a European streetscape.
Chinatown — Businesses catering to the Asian population
i saw this on a TV show called Getaway and have wanted to go there ever since!! |
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